Document Imaging Helps Organize IT

Since our implementation of ImageRight, our Network Operations team has embraced it as a way to organize our server and application documentation in a manner that makes it accessible to everyone in our team. Any support tickets, change control documents, white papers and configuration information that is stored in ImageRight is available to anyone in our group for reference.

This reduces version control issues and ensures that a common naming (or "filing") structure is used across the board, making information easier to find. (For reference, an ImageRight "file" is a collection of documents organized together like a physical file that hangs in a file cabinet.) Plus, the ability to export individual documents or whole ImageRight "files" to a CD with an included viewer application is a great feature that I'm using as part of our Disaster Recovery preparations.

I have a single file that encompasses the contents of our network "runbook". This file contains server lists and configuration details, IP and DNS information, network maps, application and service dependencies, storage share locations/sizes, support contact information, etc. It consists of text documents, spreadsheets, PDF files and other types of data. I keep a hard copy printed at my desk so I can jot notes when changes are needed, but ImageRight ensures I have an electronic backup that I can edit on a regular basis. Plus, I regularly export a updated copy to a CD that I add to the off-site Disaster Recovery box.

The value of ImageRight in a disaster scenario expands beyond just our configuration documents. In an office where we deal with large amounts of paper, encouraging people to see that those documents are added to ImageRight in a timely manner will ensure faster access to work products after an event prevents access to the office or destroys paper originals.